PC_Day8

Day 8

Sunday, 6 June 2004
Seaside, OR to Tillamook, OR
49.3 miles, 4h06m, 12.0 mph
Elapsed Time: 4h55m, Max speed: 40.7mph
Total Climbing: 2383ft, Max elevation: 603ft
Total mileage: 482.4

The 60th anniversary of D-Day. Not the longest day for us, but the wettest and coldest.

Without a doubt this was the most miserable day of cycling ever. The forecast called for steady rain in the morning and scattered showers in the afternoon. As a bonus, the temperature was about 10 degrees below normal for this time of year. And as a special bonus, the wind would be out of the southwest, 10-20mph with gusts up to 35mph. Woo-hoo!

The view out the window at 8am.

We looked out the window at 8am and decided that maybe we'd wait until nine. At nine it really wasn't any better so we decided to go. First we rode out to the statue marking the end of the Lewis and Clark Trail on the promenade at the beach.

My bike in bad weather trim on the beach at Seaside.

Before we could get out of town we had our first encounter with a dog. It was not what I would have expected. We were riding down the promenade when we saw a guy riding a beater bike toward us. He was weaving all over the road trying to keep track of two dogs that were running with him. As he approached us he straightened out and one of the dogs moved to the other side of the path. The other dog kept coming directly at me. When he was about 5 feet away it became apparent that this dog and I were going to collide head on so I yelled and jammed on the brakes. The guy yelled and the dog turned his head, saw me, and jammed on the brakes. JT, who was riding behind me, swerved to avoid me and jammed on the brakes. He hit my right rear bag with his left front bag and ended up still upright in a shallow ditch. The guy kept riding as he admonished his dog to "pay attention" and apologized over his shoulder. JT was not mollified. He said something like, "Blah blah blah, put him on a leash!"

Then it started raining. There was a climb between Seaside and Cannon Beach. After that the road got rolly. Traffic was heavy but the road had a good shoulder and was marked as the Oregon Coastal Bicycle Route. There were lots of big rocks out in the water, but we didn't get too many good looks because of the weather.

One of those offshore rocks. There's lots of them.

There were two big climbs between Arch Cape and Manzanito. The first one served no real purpose. We went up and up and when we got to the top there was nothing to see. So we went flying down that one and immediately started the next one. There was a tunnel part way up with one of those buttons to press to turn on the lights. Since it was a climb we decided to walk through on the very narrow sidewalk. If it's not loud enough in the tunnel already, some people like to lay on the horn as they drive through. I'm not sure of the point of this. They couldn't be doing it to annoy us because they never did it while we were in a tunnel. I guess they just want to hear the sound.

Anyway, at the end of the big climb there was a long stretch of road with spectacular views of the coast. At least the views would have been spectacular if we could have seen very far.

Looking south down the coast.

Next was a long and cold descent into Manzanito. There we stopped for a snack and some hot chocolate at the local gas station mini-mart. In bad weather it is usually a mistake to stop because the riding is what keeps you warm. When we restarted I was shivering. Then we came around a bend and were exposed to the southwest wind for the first time. It was really, really cold and the rain was piercing. Fortunately, our route turned away from the coast at that point and headed inland.

We rode up a pretty little valley that avoided the wind, the traffic, and the hills. It was great...or it would have been great if it hadn't been raining. I didn't take any pictures because I was worried about my camera getting wet.

But all good things must come to an end and so did this road. We were dumped back out on US101 and continued south. As we rode along an exposed section of road along a bay we were suddenly hit by a strong crosswind and sheets of rain. We struggled across the open ground with our shoulders turned into the rain until we reached some trees that provided a little shelter. We stopped there and waited for the wind to die down, figuring maybe the rain would pass too. But it didn't so we continued on in the rain. Traffic was heavy, the rain was hard, but the going was good and we were soon warm and dry at the Best Western.

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